Hey all, 1st time grower here. But ive spent the past year reading and trying to become as knowlegeable as possible. And now that im finally starting, its kinda scary! anyway, to start ill give you a overal picture of my grow box (ill have pics soon) its a 4x4area with a 1000WHPS. i have direct access to fresh air and hopefully it wont get too hot in there. Anyway, today is day 2 of the seeds being in soil. I used the paper towel method for germination and got 100% success. half were planted yesturday and the other half i just finished planting. ***now my question is, should i have the light on during this time, or should i keep it off until the seedling come through the soil(right now their still all about 1cm below the soil). Im going to be keeping this journal pretty up to date with pictures as new developments happen so hopefully ill have some good reviews and help when i need it.
Hi there How many seeds did you plant? What strain are they? As for the light - ideally they would be under flourescent light for the first week or so. But, if you want to use the 1000W HPS from the start make sure there is plenty of clearance (at least 4') between the bulb and the seedlings. It doesn't make much difference whether or not the light is shining as the plants break the surface. Given that a 1000W HPS isn't the cheapest thing to run, I'd keep it off for now.
i have 12 seeds all germinated right now...half are chronic, half are buble gum... ya, i dont really want to have to buy another floro if i can avoid it. so lights on or off doesnt matter??
light = not needed i usually let my seeds sprout from the soil in a dark warm place but as soon as u see em sprout from the soil WHAM em with the light and ull see em shoot up in no time, goodluck bro
i always leave the lights on, cause i like my lil ones to be greated upon breaking the soil... and the lights can help warm up the place for vegging lights, i really like 55w CFLs, $15 each from 1000bulbs dotcom, two of em does the trick right best of luck, peace
Hey all, Ok, Iv decided to go with no light because i feel its too powerful for my babies and instead just leave the blinds up so a little natural light gets in to the area. anyway, today(day 4) i had 2 guys poke their heads above the surface. the weird thing is though that the actual seed is at the top of the stem out of the soil. Now when i placed the seeds in the soil i put the seed down and the little growth tip pointing to the surface. Is this the right way to do it or should it have been the other way around???normal?? below are some pics i took, i know my camera is blurry...im working on it. but in the mean time here is as good a pic as i can get of the seed above the soil. (that little ball is the seed)
You've got to put the white tip of the seed down, that's the root. Sounds like your plants are growing upside down.
dam...damdam.... so the first thing i could screw up i did...ohh well...but thanks for lettin me know kayak. is there a possiblity that the plants will start growin leaves on the ones i planted upside down???is there anything i can do for em??.. i checked them this morning and a new plant sprouted that has leaves so i guess i have 1 good one. yay!! anyway, this isnt how i thought i would start, but hopefully i can still save a couple.
OK heres an update: all the plants are dead... and a little timbit, no leaves will form on upside grown plants!! now im trying to figure out what i screwed up. Im almost positive it was the heat. It is an average of around 100-110 degrees celcius in my area. now ive been trying to figure a way to cool it down but everything iv tride has failed. Ive tried having 3 fans in there. 1 blowing air from a window into the room, another attached to the light blowing air constantly over the bulb, and another one just blowing air around the room. Now i know i have to try to get a flow of hot air out and cool air in but im stumped. Right now my room is 4X4 with a 1000Whps light. I have one 3x3inch hole near the top of the room for exhaust, and ive been using the window for intake. please everyone rip into me, tell me how stupid i am sinse iv killed off about 12 plants...(only got 4 to sprout above the soil) any ideas to keep this room cool im open to. last resort i guess i could buy an airconditioner, but i want to stay away from that if possible.
Well... there's only so much you can do. You're right that the 100 - 110 F heat will have been the reason your plants died, but as for bringing temps down... what is the average daytime air temperature in your area? because realistically you're not going to be able to get the temperature down to much less than 5 or 10F above this. If the air temperature is too high to let you grow, well, your two options are an air conditioner (expensive++ just for a grow) or wait until winter. As for maximising the cooling you have, pointing a fan at the bulbs will only help dissipate hotspots. That's handy, but the fan blowing over the plants should do that job, so the other fan would be better served either bringing more cool air in or pumping hot air out. If you're actively pumping cool air in you're creating a positive air pressure within the room, and the air will move out naturally through whatever cracks or vents are in the room. The reverse process obviously works (for pumping hot air out), although unless you have a clear intake you can't be sure that the air you're passively bringing back in isn't already hot.
woww 100-110 degrees?! thats gonna be real tough to maintan a good growing environment.. i would advice that you keep your plants somewhere that is very cool (ie, a basement) or else your gonna be watering the little bastards like 10 times a day.. dont feel too bad about loosing your plants.. it happens to the best of us. at least you realized your mistakes and are accepting of them and are willing to learn for the next time. get a new set of seeds on the go and see if you have better luck again this time...hopefully finding a way to eliminate the heat factor.. which i (fortunatly) have never had a problem with...yay canada! lol FLEX
hey all,; arse, the average daytime temp was around 110F, pretty ridiculous ehh??hah today though i found my lost termered glass sheet to go in my reflector, i also rigged a little piping to bring the air from the window down to ground level. i had the light on all day(with no plants and the teperature seemed to stay around 85-90F, im also gonna get two fans side by side to blow in air from the window tomorow so hopefully this will bring down temp some more.. is that a managable temperature for plants to grow?? and by the way flex, when i did have a couple plants growing i was watering every couple hours!!was a pain... and i decided to germinate a couple more seeds today so hopefully in 2days when their ready ill have heat down a couple more degrees anyway, time for me to go get fucked up!
heyy all. Ok i was talkin to my roomate this morning about heat and shit, and he suggested taking off the roof of the grow to let out the heat easier...i can do this easily, and it wont be an issue about concealment because my box is inside another room that is constantly locked. now is there a downside to having no roof?? and will this actually help keep temp down at all?? and any question about hanging the lights dont bother asking. a bar that goes across the top without being attached to the roof... ohh and update, my seeds havnt germinated yet, hopefully tomorow or next day...
Hey, Ok, after a setback at the begining im back. Ive germinated 6 chronic seeds and all 6 have sprouted and are looking good. to recap, i have a 1000WHPS light in a 4x4area with a temperature kept around 85degrees. here are some updated pics of my babies. They are all at day 9. View attachment 40228 View attachment 40229 View attachment 40230 This big one is a friends. He was growing it by sunlight through his bedroom window, so i told him to just put it in my grow room and its just exploded with growth since he brought it by. View attachment 40231 Just an update. ill post some more pics in a couple of days
ya, its just hard keeping the temp down though. If i had to do it again i woulda got a 600W light...it isnt worth all the trouble i went through at the beggining. but its looking good now!!! heres a pic of my light View attachment 40258